Director Report Card: Anne Boden and Ryan Fleck (2014)

4. Mississippi Grind

When it comes to modern film fandom, no studio is more respected than A24. The distribution company has brought some of the most beloved indie dramas of the last few years to the masses. Considering their statuses as respected indie auteurs, it was probably inevitable that Ryan Fleck and Anne Boden would team-up with A24. After their brush with the mainstream, the duo would try their hand at a buddy comedy of sorts. However, “Mississippi Grind” would not be one of the break-through A24 movies. Instead, it became one of the films that went straight-to-Direct TV, the movie going largely ignored by everyone but the hardcore movie nerds. (Though it was well-received by those that did see it.)

Gerry likes to gamble, even though he's not very good at it. His addiction to cards, slots, the ponies, and games of chance led to the end of his marriage and an estrangement with his young daughter. One night, while out at a poker game, he meets another gambler named Curtis. Where Gerry is consistently downtrodden, Curtis is almost supernaturally lucky. The two become fast friends. The nomadic Curtis leaves town soon enough and Gerry – who is being pursued by loan sharks anyway – decides to follow him. The two travel down the Mississippi River, finding their opposing approach to gambling in conflict.

“Mississippi Grind” is apparently an extended homage to Robert Altman's “California Split,” a movie I've never seen. However, I have seen enough movies like it to get what Fleck and Boden were going for here. “Mississippi Grind” is clearly a throwback to an older style of moviemaking. It's a rambling sort of character study. There's a destination in mind but what's more important is how the two leads get to know each other, how their friendship evolves and how their personalities affect one another. It's a deliberately retro-feeling style, as even dramas are more focused on forward momentum than just hanging out these days.

With “It's Kind of a Funny Story,” Boden and Fleck told a more whimsical type of story, dealing with characters from a well-to-do world. With “Mississippi Grind,” the directors return to the kind of gritty intimacy that defined their first two features. Gerry inhabits a world of low-lives, screw-ups, drug addicts, and prostitutes. Many of the film's scenes take place in sleazy bars, poorly lit casinos, or partially empty dog tracks. This is not a movie about the glamorous world of high-stakes gambling. Instead, it' about the kind of real people – everyday thrill seekers and desperate folks – who actually hang out at your nearest casino or bar.

Despite its gritty settings, don't think “Mississippi Grind” is an overwhelmingly depressing film. In fact, it's pretty funny. This is primarily a buddy comedy. While driving to their destination, Curtis playfully picks at the gambling advice CD Gerry always has in his car player. Curtis is full of colorful stories, his lifetime of gambling adventures putting him in contact with all sorts of eccentric characters. This pays off fantastically when Gerry, badly in need of a pay day, tracks down one of the colorful figures Curtis talked about. Poor Gerry can't even get mugged correctly, as an attempted robbery has him non-seriously stabbed by an apathetic mugger.

Much like Dunne in “Half Nelson,” “Mississippi Grind” focuses in on a protagonist that keeps making mistakes. Gerry isn't a bad gambler, necessarily. While playing a poker game in a woman's den, he manages to win... Before he decides to keep going, loosing everything he won. This is not the only example. After a lucky win at the dog track, he insists on going for one more round, that screws both him and Curtis. Gerry isn't the kind of addict addicted to the thrill. Instead, he gambles because he can't help but feel that big win – that life-changing win – is just around the corner. That desire to reach that goal has him making desperate decisions, like stealing money from his wife or spending his last dollar on a slot machine.

Curtis doesn't have this problem. Curtis can walk into seemingly any situation and come out a winner. He can randomly choose a greyhound and have a winner. He can make a profit off a barroom game of darts or pool. He has a seemingly intuitive ability to always know what to do to win. Though their luck couldn't be more different, Gerry and Curtis quickly form a bond, both amazing at a recent rainbow. They laugh it up in a bar. Ultimately, Gerry and Curtis stand by each other, as seen when Curtis' VIP card is turned down at a hotel . Watching these two guys have a good time together is the primary joy of “Mississippi Grind” and certainly helps make its dreary settings bearable.

Anne Boden and Ryan Fleck's first two features both functioned as deconstructions of common subgenres. “Half Nelson” put a realistic spin on the inspirational teacher movie. “Sugar” riffed on the inspirational sports drama. “Mississippi Grind” is a road trip movie. Gerry and Curtis travel from Iowa down to New Orleans. Luckily, Boden and Fleck do not see fit to deconstruct the road movie. Granted, the guys don't see the iconic sights on their journey. Instead, they mostly hang out on a river boat or in cheesy bars and casinos. Yet the central premise of a subgenre – it's about the journey, not the destination – is maintained. And it all works out, because road movies are awesome and in no need fo a grim-dark reinvention.

Thankfully, there's something else “Mississippi Grind” isn't about. Though the characters are all gamblers and gambling motivates the entire story, this is thankfully not a movie about gambling. Much like how “Sugar” wasn't really a sports movie, the filmmakers simply use the dramatic tension inherent in the competition without bogging the viewer down in rules and strategy. That's good, as I understand the rules of gambling about as well as I understand sports. So we see Gerry and Curits play blackjack, poker, or craps, getting the general gist even if not the exact details  Wondering whether the winning hand will come up, if the dice will land correctly, is all we need to know.

The best moments throughout “Mississippi Grind” tend to be quieter moments of reflection. An absolute heart-breaking scene has Gerry bonding with a call-girl friend of Curtis. The two spend the night playing piano and talking about their lives. It's such a gentle moment, dripping with flirtatious energy – but more concerned with regrets – without anything as heavy as actual romance or sex. Later on, Curtis gets an equal moment of reflection when encountering his mom, a boozy singer in a bar, one of the rare times when he's put in his place. Ultimately, among the film's most important scene is when Curtis promises not to give up on Gerry, a sweet and bro-tastic scene that solidifies the friendship so central to the movie.

Ben Mendelsohn has made a decent career out of bringing his particularly dry and British wit to many undistinguished villain roles. Which makes seeing him as a fallible, lovable loser like Gerry a surprise. Mendelsohn acts as much with his body as his more-than-capable dry wit. It's even a plot point, as the film draws attention to his slouched posture early on. As much of a sad sack as Gerry is, there's also something unavoidably charming about him. He seems like he'd be fun to hang out with. For the most part, Mendelsohn is an utter delight as a guy with incredibly bad luck and an inability to learn from his mistakes.

Ryan Reynolds has ridden his gift for smarmy charm all the way to superhero superstardom. Before he became Deadpool as we know him, Reynolds played a more down-to-Earth smart-ass here. Yes, Curtis still has that Reynolds-esque tendency to say improbably clever dialogue. Yet it's in service of a more humane script. As much snarky dialogue as Reynolds gets to deliver, Curtis is still a fully formed character, a normal person with incredible luck and a unique outlook on life. This is a fantastic use of Reynolds' charm and a good look at why Hollywood made so many attempts at turning him into a genuine movie star before it really stuck. The guy has that quality, that ability to show an incredibly humanity while being hilarious and larger-than-life.

Boden and Fleck ditch the shaky-cam in favor of a less distracting style. They keep the tendency for on-the-nose soundtracks, this time powering the entire movie with a collection of (admittedly pretty great) classic blues songs. I think it's easily my favorite of the directing duo's films thus far. The movie proves more charming than “Half Nelson” and “Sugar,” while loosing none of the qualities that work in those movie's favor. (It's also way funnier than “It's Kind of a Funny Story.”) With two extremely likable lead performance and an ideally executed pacing, “Mississippi Grind” is an underseen gem absolutely worth seeking out. [Grade: B+]